Baye Janha plays the guitar like the ancient Khalam of the Wolof tribe of the Senegambia region and the Ganawa south Moroccan sound to a mass effect with his guitar. He was the band leader of the Gelewarr band, the Super Alligators, Fabulous Eagles, Supreme Eagles, Tambato band, the Karantaba band and Ifang Bondi. His playing technique can be distinctly heard on the SARABA CD/ALBUM recorded in Senegal on Griot records. He was awarded a medal in Algeria as one of Africa’s top guitarists with his solo group The Karantaba Band.

It is the dawn of Senegal’s independence from France, and as Dakar citizens celebrate in the streets we soon become aware that only faces have changed in the handover of power. White money still controls the government.

I have just uploaded the Janga Laaka Wolof/English Dictionary. It’s available for a minimal charge. Why am I charging for this? Well, because I have invested a lot of time and energy into this project and like everyone else I have to make a living! Don’t fret though, all the contents of this book will be available on this blog for FREE. The charge for the download is for the convience of owning your own personal copy that you can take with you anywhere regardless of internet availability. You can also print it out and have your own personal hardcopy to take with you even when you don’t have a computer or a smartphone handy.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a ROUGH DRAFT version !!! So, therefore there may be a few errors. Why am I offerring a rough version instead of a finished product? Because, due to lack of time and funding I don’t see me completing this project anytime soon, and since I’ve gotten many, many requests for this product I’ve decided to go ahead and share what I have so far. If after reading this you’ve decided to go ahead and download anyway then I thank you very much for your purchase!

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The purpose of French Friday is to expand your language capabilities while in West Africa (specifically Senegal). Many Wolof speakers can also understand French and sometimes using French to get your point across is easier than using Wolof since it’s a language closer to our own.

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Hassaniyya (Klem El Bithan) is the variety of Arabic originally spoken by the Beni Hassan Bedouin tribes, who extend their authority over most of Mauritania and the Western Sahara between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. It has almost completely replaced the Berber languages spoken in this region. Though clearly a western dialect, Hassaniya is relatively distant from other North African variants of Arabic. Its geographical location exposed it to influence from Zenaga and Wolof. There are several dialects of Hassaniya. The primary differences among them are phonetic. Today Hassaniya is spoken by inhabitants of Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Senegal and the Western Sahara. – Wikipedia

Greetings:

Some of these terms may be familiar to some of us as many of these are also used by Wolof speakers but perhaps pronounced a bit differently.

Is–selaamualeykum – Peace be upon you
– Wealeykumis–selaam – And on you, tooIshhaalis–sbaah – Good morningIshhaalli–mgiil – Good afternoonIshhaalli–mbaat – Good eveningEyaakil–khayr? – Are you in peace?
– Il–khayril–hamdulillaah – Peace onlyIshhaalak? – How are you?
– Lebaasmeshaallaah – I am fineIshhaalusrtak? – How is the family?
– Lebaasliihum – They are fineIshhaalish–shaqle? – How is the work?
– Lebaasmeshaallaah – It is fineIshhaalakmail–vetre? – How are you with tiredness?
– Lebaasmeshaallaah – I am fineIshhaalSoukeyna? – How is Soukeyna?
– Soukeynalebaasliihe – Soukeyna is fineIshhaalishaashrtak? – How are your children?
– Lebaasliihum – They are fineMerhbe! – Welcome!Shukran! – Thank you!

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In Senegal they use the franc CFA. But the traditional unit of currency is the dërëm which is counted by fives. Usually when dealing with money most people will deal strictly with the French terms for simplicity. If Wolof is used the dërëm is implied if not specifically said. So for example junni is 5000, not 1000, even though dërëm has been left off. The generic Wolof term for money is xaalis.

BASIC EXCHANGE RATES – This is just for a general idea, exchange rates fluctuate constantly, with the exception of the euro which has a fixed rate of 655.957 CFA to 1 euro.

CONVERTING DËRËM TO CFA – When talking money, the number ñaari teemeeri (200) is the same as ñaari teemeeri dërëm (1000 CFA). To get the CFA equivalent of dërëm, take the number of dërëm and multiply it by 5, for example, teemeeri dërëm – 100 dërëm or 100 x 5, is 500 CFA.

Sometimes CFA is written as FCFA or just F.

A comma is often used to indicate decimals. For example – 1,5 is the same as 1.5.
Also, a period is often used to indicate thousands. For example – 10.000 is the same as 10,000.
Common French terms for money:l’argent means money, bills/notes are called les billets or les factures and change/coinage is called pièces de monnaie.

What is the price? Quel est le prix?How much does it cost? Combien est-ce là?

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This looks like a great promising dictionary…the only thing is that it’s mostly all in French but on the other hand this can be very helpful in learning the French along with your Wolof as you Google Translate the French into English!

Translated from J’apprends le Wolof by Jean-Leopold Diouf et Marina Yaguello. This is the introduction to the book.

Introduction

1. Design Manual / Conception du manuel

This book is a method of learning wolof, a language foreign to francophones. It is intended for residents, the cooperating, businessmen and tourists. It could also be useful for teachers in national languages, or any other person wishing to have a better knowledge of the language wolof.

The method is especially designed for a learning guide. However, it is possible to use individually. In one case as in others, can not be overemphasized recommend a learner’s most total immersion in environments requiring a practice wolof.

To accommodate the manifold needs of learners, we chose themes as diverse as family relationships, professional, social, friendly, commercial, civil, etc.., Containing an elementary lexicon, but enough to face a different situations communication.

In addition, we sought to ensure a balance between learning wolof by a communicative approach and learning wolof by an analytical approach.

The points of grammar that may fall in the manual have been carefully selected and should allow the learner to acquire the basic structures of wolof. All these points are explained in the units or they appear.

The written exercises are planned at the end of each unit. Their number varies from one unit to another depending on the difficulty of the grammar has acquired.

All exercises should be made and, as many times as a learning experience need.

For each exercise, a model is given. The learner must study the structure therein is made, before formulating are shown next to each segment of the year. A system cache that the learner is confectionnera prevent him throwing a glance the answer before he made the effort necessary.

2. The place of wolof in Senegal / La place du wolof au Sénégal

The wolof is part of the language group called west-Atlantic. It is mainly spoken in Senegal and Gambia, but also in Mauritania.

There are, in Senegal, six languages that have received the status of national languages: wolof, Serer, Pulaar, the Mandingo, soninke and Diola.

These languages were officially selected for communication in the media, and education. Moreover, the French remains the official language.

Of the six national languages, wolof is most spoken. It is the language of ethnic wolof who figure 2,285,000 people, representing 40% of the population of Senegal. The traditional Wolof area extends from north to south, from the delta of the atlantic coast of the desert Ferlo.

But it is also wolof language vehicle. About 80% of the population on the practice throughout the territory and this, mainly in urban areas.

The advantage that the wolof had on other national languages can not be explained both by the number of native wolof or by their geographical distribution (Walo, Cayor, Diolof, Baol, Saloum) and by the fact that the first contacts s’effectuèrent colonial powers with the Wolof and made the area wolof the pole of attraction for other ethnic groups. In mid wolof, the day saw the first counters and, with them, groundnut basin or develop a flourishing trade, crowned by the installation of railway Dakar – St. Louis.

The wolof, as many African languages, is a language classes nominal. These classes (eight in number two in the singular and plural) play a role comparable to that grammatical gender in the Indo-European languages. Each class is marked by a [index class] is by a consonant. This consonant serves as a base for training all determinants and substitutes name (defined and indefinite articles concerning, interrogative, indefinite). These determinants or substitutes therefore differ for each class, the initial consonant, désinence remaining the same.

The city of Dakar is a melting pot or just blend all ethnic groups in Senegal and even neighbouring countries: wolof it undergoes a simplification because it is talking more and more by non-native speakers for whom it is a second or a third language. Thus, in its manifold vehicular and urban, a distinction of class indices is not always respected. The class – b (most productive) tends to absorb the other. In particular, it is in this class that fit all the words and borrowing new words needed presenter asked whether a learner is likely to hear in the streets. We opted ultimately for some sort of compromise, which reflects fairly well through the use wolophones native urbanized. The class indices are complied except for the numeral benn (one), serving also indefinite article, which tends to be used alone, regardless of class.

The identification in space and in particular the opposition near / distant plays a very important role in language. Where a great variability of adverbs of place. The notion of near / distant also in nominal determination (and, as defined in article owns several forms).

The system can record divert even more francophones. The integrate personal pronouns mode and the appearance of the verb. So the pronoun that varies and not the basis of the word, which remains unchanged. In addition, there is no [time] Strictly speaking, the tracking time out from a context and situation of enunciation. The different conjugations (by varying the pronoun) are introduced gradually in the units. For an overview of the system, we see a grammatical annex at the end of volume.

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This video shows traditional Jola body patting and dances by girls from Mlomp, Casamance region, Southern Senegal. It was recorded at The Akonting Center for Senegambian folkmusic, Mandinari, Gambia July 2006.

In Senegal they use the franc CFA(Communauté financière d’Afrique). But the traditional unit of currency is the dërëm which is counted by fives. Usually when dealing with money most people will deal strictly with the French terms for simplicity. If Wolof is used the dërëm is implied if not specifically said. So in the example below junni is 5000, not 1000, even though dërëm has been left off.

teemeeri dërëm = 500 CFA
(100 x 5 = 500)

ñaariteemeeri dërëm = 1000 CFA
(2 x 100 x 5 = 1000)

ñettiteemeeri dërëm = 1500 CFA
(3 x 100 x 5 = 1500)

juróombenniteemeeri dërëm = 3000 CFA
(5 + 1 x 100 x 5 = 3000)

juróomñettiteemeeri dërëm = 4000 CFA
(5 + 3 x 100 x 5 = 4000)

junni = 5000 CFA
(1000 x 5 = 5000)

I do not know if this is common or just happened to be the people I was around but instead of, for example, saying ‘fifteen hundred‘ as we might say in the USA for 1500, they would say ‘one thousand five hundred‘. Also CFA is pronounced like ‘see-uff-uh‘ almost like ‘safer‘ with an odd accent.

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The Diola people inhabit the Casamance region of Senegal, and also southwestern Gambia, where their name is spelt Jola. Their language is Diola or Jola, not to be confused with the Dioula or Dyola spoken in Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire. Diola society is segmented and very flexible, so several dialects have developed which may not be mutually intelligible between groups even though the area inhabited by the Diola is relatively small.

A note on the usage of ‘Mme’ and ‘M.’, Mme is the French abbreviation for Madame the English equivalent being Mrs., it is not followed by a period. M., is the French abbreviation for Monsieur the English equivalent being Mr., it is always followed by a period. Although I did not do it here last names usually have every letter capitalized when in print in Senegal. Although Mme/Madame and M./Monsieur is very common in Senegal you may want to use the Wolof equivalents which are Soxna si and Góor gi respectively.

Many of these terms may actually be Arabic or Wolofized Arabic. Many Wolof speakers practice Islam which uses the Arabic language.

ajaratu – title given to a woman who has made the pilgrimage to Meccaaji Makka – to go to Meccaaj gi – the pilgrimageAji – title given to a woman who has made the pilgrimageajjana, aljana, arjana – heaven, paradiseallaaji, alxaaji – title of a man who has made the pilgrimage to Meccaallaaxira – the next worldalla-akubaar, allahu-akbar – God is greatalxamdulillaa – praise be to Godalxuraan – the Koranamiin – amenastafurlaa – may God forgive, God help us. (an exclamation of astonishment)atte Yalla la – it is the judgement of God, it is fate

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Some of these expressions are not common in Wolof and may not always be readily understood by some Wolof speakers. Many of these (I believe?) were developed by medical professionals as a way to better communicate more precisely with non-Francophone Wolof speakers.